Numbered Days

I always hoped I'd be one of "those" girls.  The ones who were cute pregnant and loved being just that. The ones who adored every movement of their kid and all that comes with carrying an extra around for 9 months.  But when I got pregnant with Em, it didn't take long for the excitement to wear off and for a feeling of being taken over by an alien parasite to settle in.  I disliked every part of pregnancy and tried very hard to forget I was even growing another human being.  These attempts would always come to an end in some dramatic fashion such as when I'd open a door and nearly knock myself out because I'd slam it into my gut (true story) or I'd be in the middle of playing volleyball and remember, mid-dive, that I couldn't land properly and have to maneuver out of the predicament I'd gotten myself into (another true story).  I resented not being able to see my shoes, let alone tie them myself and worst of all, I loathed the American mandate to stay away from deli meat.

I wish I could say that throughout the pregnancies I've gained a more mature and deeper appreciation for this time, but in general, I haven't.  I'm still just as freaked out when my belly moves like something from a Sci-Fi show.  I still get irritated when the ground seems to be an eternity away as I try to navigate bending over with another living-being growing in my belly.  And, worst of all, I still get irritated when I can't order  a cup of normal coffee without my ribs getting pummeled for the caffeine treat.

I only had a few weeks to go with Em when a friend dragged me to the local photo studio insisting I'd one day be glad I'd captured on film "these precious moments."  I thought she was nuts and, for the most part, I'm still in a space that screams to have every memory of being as big as a house erased.  However, there was a moment after Cooper was born, when Em walked into the room and I had two children on the outside and I realized I should have taken the time to remember when it was just her.  And I was sad when I forgot with Harper as well.  Not so much to celebrate the wonderful miracle growing inside, but to celebrate the space my family was at just before the miracle arrived.  My kids are in a great space.  A few months ago, I couldn't have said that but I'm so delighted by where they're at.  Harper is gaining 10 new words each day, and it's just amazing when she pulls a new one out and I have to ask myself, "when did she learn that?"  The battles of the last few months with Cooper seem to be (slowly) fading.  He's not as whiny or willful.  I'm finally able to reason with him and best of all, independent thought processing is happening that is so sweet.  His train of thought doesn't always make sense to me, but he can now tell me what he was thinking and why he arrived at the conclusion he did. It's fabulous!  And Em seems to have grown into a proper girly-girl overnight.  She loves dresses and princess things, but her dress-up no longer looks like some Hallmark commercial of a toddler in her mother's wedding dress and is more like a girl trying on prom dresses.  I don't particularly like her girly tendencies, but it's her thing, so I'll keep my mouth shut., and as long as she's wanting to use her imagination for fantasy worlds, I'll let her have it.

So to celebrate what will surely be some of the last few days of us being a family of just five, Todd decided to get some pictures.  I opposed them as much now as I did in 2008, but I see the value in them much more now.  I begrudgingly agreed and we went to our favorite local nature reserve.  It was a great afternoon and I must admit, we had a lot of fun.

It's been a long while since Todd was able to do any real photography.  He's generally so busy and I hog the camera so much of the time... I don't like being on the other end of the lens, but I have to say, he did an amazing job!

Baby Girl has been really cuddly the last few weeks and her two favorite sports are on my back (which is great for helping even out the weight distribution at the moment) and sitting on top of my bump.

Harper has also finally figured out kisses... she no longer tries to kill you with her head and now knows how to gently give kisses, so she does it all.  the.  time.

I found my feet... but Em still had to get the shoes for me.  I'm telling you, the ground is just too far away sometimes!

Cooper, and all the kids really, are fascinated with the bump and love giving kisses.  Em gets a bit freaked out every time she gets kicked but the other two think its just fabulous.  The both tell me to "do it again" as if I can make their sibling move on command.

I don't enjoy this part... the part where people say things like, "So when are you going to POP?" (sorry, not a balloon folks)  or "Are you SURE its not twins???" (Trust me, I'd be one of the first to know that).  That said, I'm also not ready to be a mommy of four... at least not today.  Today, I'm going to keep enjoying my baby still being the baby, and my sweet little boy arguing with his big sister about whether they get a brother or a sister.  So I'm going to enjoy my days, even if they are numbered, with this crew of mine, just as it is.  I'm going to enjoy the fact that I can fit (barely) the folded laundry in stacks according to child on our coffee table.  I'll enjoy garlic and as much dairy as I want and I'll continue to enjoy having room in the grocery store cart/trolly for things besides just an infant carrier.

Christmas Ambitions

Em got out of school a week ago.  I rather like that schools here let out so early since it means things don't have to get crammed together like it was when we were still in the States (a year ago this week!).  However, that also means weeks on end of kids asking, "Mommy, what are we going to do today?!?!"  It's less of a question and more of a demand for entertainment.  So I had sorted out some... projects of sorts.  We did mosaics with moong beans and lentils and other food products.  We made our 2012 Christmas ornaments.  There were other things in there as well, mostly baking that required a lot of math from Em (the teacher in me was rather happy about that).  Sitting down to the pictures though, this preggy mommy is just a bit tired by the whole process... and glad the rain has gone away for a few days and the kids can just go outside and play :)

All three kids are needing to work on fine motor skills and I found a project we can do, in various forms, over and over again.  This was our first attempt at mosaic-anything and I have to say, it was a bit too much by the end, but that's mostly because Harper started flinging beans that were sticking to her glue-ladden fingers.  Did I mention I'd cleaned the dining room just for this project?

When we do this again (in 20 years when I've recovered enough patience!), I'll do it at a time when I can take one child at a time.  Em was the most independent and hers turned out rather nicely, but even so, I felt like I couldn't properly "oooh" and "awe" over her crafty-work.

This was the point when Cooper decided eating the "left-overs" might be easier than putting each different type of bean away.  Needless to say, he didn't like raw lentils and reneged on that idea quickly.

There's been a lot of rain, so I've had project after project lined up so that when the kids get restless, we move on to the next thing.  We'd been slowly but surely plowing our way through cinnamon ornament making.  It takes a few sessions:  make the dough, wait, roll the dough and cut out the shapes, wait, color/paint, wait.  We were in the decorating/coloring/painting stage while waiting for a rather irritatingly slow drizzle to let up.  Harper decided to see what modge podge tasted like.  

She then decided that using it to paint was a better option :)

Cooper, having learned this lesson earlier in the day, was nervous to get anywhere remotely close to the glue-paste again... which led to many laughs from me because his faces were hysterical!

 The end result?  Our 2012 homemade Christmas ornaments!  Best part is they smell divine!!!

We also have a tradition of a cookie exchange around here.  For years (literally), I've been wanting to make those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey Kisses on them.  I'm not a fan of caramel and for some reason, most chocolate here has a carmel taste to it (at least to my palate anyways).  Todd loves it but it means that I generally avoid chocolate all together.  It's a rather useful weight loss technique actually.  But this year, my best friend came from the States for a few weeks and I had her pick up some Kisses for me.  Em and I spent a wonderful afternoon unwrapping and counting kisses and cookies into dozens.  It was a wonderful math lesson that Harper bored of so quickly, it felt like I only had one kid while baking.    

 The cookies are exchanged on an afternoon when all the kids gather and decorate the sugar and gingerbread cookies.  Here's the whole crew, complete with their decorated cookies.  We had a ton of fun, and the kids only started licking the sugar and icing off the tables when it was all over, so I say it was a COMPLETE success!!!